Adjustable strike plate



July 25, 1961 MANCHESTER 2,993,719

ADJUSTABLE STRIKE PLATE Filed Oct. 5, 1959 IN VEN T02 P0 WE G MANCHESr512 5y 2% A/zMQ A TTOPNE Y m Pat nt? 2,993,719... ADJUSTABLE STRIKEPLATE Rowe G, Manchester, 7731 E. Vandorf St.,

South San Gabriel, Calif. Filed 'Oct. 5, 1959, Ser. No. 844,242 7Claims. (Cl. 292-64118) rattle, whereas not enough clearance willprevent the bolt from locking.

Even if the strike plate is properly installed originally, shrinking orswelling of the door or its frame due to dampmass or other causes willfrequently require resetting of the Strike plate to properly retain thelock.

Adjustable strike plates have been proposed heretofore. However, suchtype strike plates have generally proved commercially unsuccessfulparticularly because they are too complicated and cost considerably morethan standard single piece, non-adjustable strike plates. That is, suchadjustable strike plates generally comprise two or more componentsmovable relative to each other whereby to adjust the strike or keeperedge to a proper position relative to the lock bolt when the door isclosed.

A principal object of the present invention is to overcome the abovenoted disadvaiit'ages of prior adjustable strike plates, 7

Another object is to provide an adjustable strike 'plate which is ofone-piece construction.

Another object is to provide an adjustable strike plate which may bemanufactured at a cost similar to or less than the cost of a standardnon-adjustable strike plate.

Another object is to provide an adjustable strike plate whose strikeedge is initially manufactured in a medial position.

Another object is to provide an adjustable strike plate which may beinstalled in the same manner as a standard non-adjustable strike plateand which need not be adjusted unless necessary.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention areaccomplished will be readily understood on reference to the followingspecification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable strike plate embodying thepresent invention and illustrating the same mounted in a conventionaldoor jamb.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the strike plate with its strikeedge adjusted away from the bolt receiving openmg.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG, 2 but illustrating the strike edge in amedial position.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, but illustrating the strikeedge adjusted toward the bolt receiving opening.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3.

The strike plate, generally indicated at 11, is illustrated as mountedin a recess formed in a conventional wood door jamb generally indicatedat 12. Wood screws 13 pass through openings in the strike plate and arethreaded into the door jamb to hold the strike plate in position.

The strike plate has a bolt receiving opening 14 formed therein which isaligned with a somewhat similarly shaped notch 15 formed in the doorjamb 12. A strike or keeper edge 16, formed on a web 17 struck from thestrike plate, defines one edge of the opening 14,

Slots 18 and 19 are formed in the plate 11 to extend the length of theweb 17 and strike edge 16 beyond the top and bottom edges of the opening14. The edge of the web 17 opposite the strike edge is defined by a slot20 which terminates in line with the outer ends of the slots 18 and 19.

Slots 21 and 22, extending parallel to the length of the web, are formedin the web, and their outer ends terminate in line with the outer endsof the slots 18, 19, and 20.

The slots '21 and 22 form parallel legs, i.e. 23, at 0}!- posite ends ofthe web 17, while the center section of the web is restricted in widthto a dimension slightly wider than the widths of the legs, i.e. 23. Atongue 24 is formed to extend into the cut-out portion 24a of the centersection of the web for a purpose to be described presently.

The strike plate is manufactured in the form shown in FIG. 3 with thestrike edge 16 located in a medial position.

When installing the strike plate in the door jamb an attempt isgenerally made to locate the same so that the strike edge 16 liesdirectly adjacent the engaging edge 25' (FIG, 5) of the lock bolt 25. Inthe event that too small a clearance exists between the strike edge andthe bolt, a screw driver or similar too'l, whose blade is indicated bythe dot=dash lines 26, is inserted in one of the slots 18, 19, 21 or 22and is rotated clockwise about its axis, causing the web 17 to deformaway from the bolt opening toward its position shown in FIG. 2.

In the event that too great a clearance exists between the strike edgeand the bolt, the blade 26 is preferably inserted in the cut-out portion24a and the tool is rotated against the tongue 24, thereby' deformingthe web 17 toward its position shown in FIG.- 4. A similar result couldbe achieved by inserting the blade 26 in any of the slots 20, 21 or 22and rotating the tool counterclockwise a desired amount.

Due to the parallel action of the spaced legs, i.e. 23, of the web 17,the Web can be readily deformed in the plane of the strike plate by thetool without tending to twist or deflect out of such plane. At the sametime, the web will resist bending due to pressure thereagainst by thelock bolt when attempting to open the door without withdrawing the bolt.

It will be further noted that the conformation of the web 17 is suchthat the tip 27 of the lock bolt will not catch within any of the slots,i.e. 20, when sliding across the face of the strike plate. For thisreason, the tongue 24 extends inward sufficiently to prevent the bolttip from engaging in the slot 20 in the different adjusted positions ofthe web.

Having thus described the invention, what I desire to obtain by UnitedStates Letters Patent is:

1. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said strike plate having alock bolt receiving opening, one edge of said opening forming a strikeedge, said plate having a slot extending substantially the length ofsaid strike edge and forming a web containing said strike edge, saidplate having tool receiving openings in said web adjacent the ends ofsaid slot, and said web being deformable toward and away from saidopening by a suitable tool.

2. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said strike plate having alock bolt receiving opening, one edge of said opening forming a strikeedge, said plate having a slot extending substantially the length ofsaid strike edge and forming a web containing said strike edge, saidplate having tool receiving slots in said web adjacent the ends of saidslot, said slots extending parallel to said edge, and said web beingdeformable toward and away from said opening by rotative movement of anelongate tool blade about its axis in one of said tool receiving slots.

3. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said strike plate having alock bolt receiving opening, one edge of having spaced tool receivingslots in said web adjacent 'the ends of said slot, the portion of saidweb intermediate said tool receiving slots defining a central portion,said 'slots extending parallel to said edge, and said web beingdeformable toward and away from said opening by rtative movement of anelongate tool blade about its axis in one of said tool receiving slots,the width of each of -those'portions of said web between said toolreceiving slots and said strike edge and between said tool receivingslots and said first mentioned slot being at least substantially thesame as the Width of said central portion of said web between said firstmentioned slot and said strike edge.

4. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said plate of slots atopposite ends of said strike edge, said slots extending to said openingand extending parallel to said edge whereby to extend said edge beyondsaid opening,

from said opening by rotative movement of an elongate tool about itsaxis in certain of said slots.

5. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said plate having a lockbolt receiving opening, one edge of said opening forming a strike edge,said plate having a slot extending substantially the length of saidstrike edge and forming a web containing said strike edge, said webbeing deformable toward and away from said opening,

' said web having a cut-out portion in the center of the having a lockbolt receiving opening, one edge of said opening forming a strike edge,said plate having a pair edge thereof opposite said strike edge, and atongue on said plate extending into said cut-out portion.

6. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said plate having a lockbolt receiving opening, one edge of said opening forming a strike edge,said plate having a slot extending substantially the length of saidstrike edge and forming a web containing said strike edge, said webbeing deformable toward and away from said opening, said web having acut-out portion in the center of the edge thereof opposite said strikeedge, said web having additional slots extending intermediate saidcut-out portion and the ends of said web, and a tongue on said plateextending into said cut-out portion.

7. An adjustable strike plate for door locks, said strike plate having alock bolt receiving opening, the portion of said strike platesurrounding said opening extending in a flat plane, an elongate slot insaid portion, the part of said portion intermediate said opening andsaid slot forming a web, the side edge of said web which forms part ofsaid opening defining a strike edge, said web being deformable edgewisetoward said opening, and a 'side edge of said portion which defines partof said slot opposite a side edge of said Web which also defines part ofsaid slot having a part located closer to said strike edge than a partof said last mentioned side edge of said web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,919,798 Gottlieb Jan. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 164,993 Sweden Oct. 7,1958 419,818 Great Britain Nov. 20, 1934 .7 .'620,771 France Ian. 24,1927

